Barclays fights £50m fine over Qatari capital September 16, 2013 BARCLAYS is fighting a £50m fine from the City watchdog, which has accused the bank of behaving improperly when it raised capital from Qatar in the financial crisis. Barclays is also looking into consumer loans in which may have wrongly overcharged hundreds of thousands of customers. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) believes the bank acted [...]
Gunman dead after killing 12 in US rampage September 16, 2013 A GUNMAN who shot dead 12 before being killed himself at the US Navy Yard in Washington was last night named as Aaron Alexis, a former Navy reservist who was discharged for misconduct two years ago. At least 15 more people were injured during the rampage yesterday, which took place little more than a mile [...]
JP Morgan set for $750m Whale settlement bill September 16, 2013 JP MORGAN could face a $750m (£471.8m) bill to settle wranglings over the London Whale scandal that erupted last year, it was reported last night. The bank is known to be in discussions with US and UK regulators over the episode which saw a trader lose more than $6bn on enormous derivatives positions. Two staff [...]
Summers’ exit from Fed race helps stimulus-happy markets September 16, 2013 US MARKETS jumped yesterday on the hope of more easy money as Larry Summers dropped out of the race to become Federal Reserve governor. His exit leaves deputy chairman Janet Yellen as the bookies’ favourite for the role – a candidate investors see as more dovish, and so more likely to print money to support [...]
Big investors want more shares from Co-op Bank rescue plan September 16, 2013 THE CO-OP Bank could be turned around more rapidly if bondholders were converted en masse into shareholders, according to a letter published yesterday by group of institutional bondholders. A group led by boutique investment bank Moelis and holding 43 per cent of the bank’s lower tier two bonds is pushing for a greater amount of [...]
UK workers hit hard as prices outstrip wages September 16, 2013 WAGES and in-work benefits for British workers grew at a much lower speed than inflation in the second quarter, despite a return to solid economic growth. According to an Office for National Statistics (ONS) release yesterday, labour costs per hour, a measure of salaries, benefits in kind and employers’ social contributions, was up by only [...]
Cheaper train tickets planned for part-timers September 16, 2013 PART-TIME workers will soon be able to save money with flexible season tickets for their train journeys, under plans announced by rail minister Norman Baker yesterday. The Department for Transport will next year pilot the scheme on a London commuter route, which will offer cheaper season tickets for workers who only commute a few days [...]
Bill Gates tops Forbes rich list with $72bn pile September 16, 2013 MICROSOFT founder Bill Gates has topped the Forbes list of America’s richest 400 for the 20th time, with a cash pile of $72bn (£45.3bn). With his wealth up $6bn from last year, Gates has also reclaimed the title of world’s richest person, having passed Mexico’s Carlos Slim in May. Berkshire Hathaway guru Warren Buffett proved [...]
Lynch invests in cyber security September 16, 2013 BRITISH technology guru Mike Lynch yesterday invested £1bn in cyber security firm Darktrace, praising the firm’s “radically different” approach. Lynch rose to fame after founding Autonomy, a firm sold to Hewlett-Packard in 2011 for £7.1bn. He has since set up a fund, Invoke Capital, to invest in the sector. “Darktrace brings a radically different solution to [...]
Poor harvest hits UK wines September 16, 2013 PROFITS fell at English wines firm Chapel Down Group, as last year’s bad harvest hit wine volumes, its financial results showed yesterday. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation came in at £145,000 for the first six months of 2013, half the £295,000 seen in the same period a year earlier. But beer sales increased [...]
